Trapped Within The Darkness
by Autumn Tea
Summary: The Story of Riku when he first arrived in the otehr world...how many worlds did he visit anyway?
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: This story revolves around Riku when he first arrived into Other Worlds. I do not own characters or anything else from Squaresoft/Disney. The Time Clavis is only something I made up and Acturus is a character I made up.   
*WARNING! This story contains spoilers from the game! If you don't want the game to be spoilt, I suggest that you don't read this! *   
  
Chapter 1, Arrival in the 'Other World'  
  
" I'm not afraid of the darkness!" The silver-blue haired boy stretched his hand out for his best friend. The brown haired boy tried to reach for the hand but as soon as he noticed the spot Riku was standing on was now a patch of darkness, slowly engulfing him, he stepped back. Sora watched in horror as Riku fell into the darkness and disappeared completely.   
What is he thinking? Riku thought, watching his friend's desperate expression from below. He's probably worried about Kairi He answered his own question. Riku looked around him, he was surrounded by complete darkness but strangely he could feel a strong presence of light. Closing his blue-green eyes, he lost consciousness and slowly drifted off into a deep slumber. The darkness grew more intense and started to devour his energy but he couldn't feel it.  
  
Riku opened an eye and hurriedly placed a hand over it to shield it from the bright rays of the sun. Confused he stood up unstably and examined his surroundings carefully. He was positioned near the exit of a small forest with a town ahead. The trees around him were old and ancient, their leaves swaying as the light breeze played with them, whispering secrets to each other. Clueless of what was happening he took a step forward, because of the lack of energy he almost fell but fortunately he grabbed onto a branch.   
"Is this...the other world I had been dreaming of?" he whispered softly to himself as he advanced forward, keeping one hand on the trees for support, " Is this really another world or...is it just a dream?" after a few more steps he fell on his knees. The soil was damp and solid. A rustle came from behind, swiftly Riku turned around with all his remaining energy. His eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of three creatures of the same kind. They were green and tiny, they also had sprouts on top of their heads but they had a dangerous atmosphere around them. Apparently Riku sensed the perilous situation he was in, he took a step towards the opening of the forest but the creatures scurried towards him. I can't fight now! I don't have my wooden sword with me...I'm very weary too I simply cannot face them right now! He thought as he grew nervous but he was soon forced into a battle whether he asked for it or not. Desperately Riku broke a branch with a pointed end and waved it in front of him as if it was a sword and with all his energy he stabbed the creature closest to him. It vanished into the thin air. The other two seemed aware that he now has a weapon that can kill, they retreated a few paced then without warning, one of them shot a reasonable large seed in Riku's direction. He tried to dodge it but since he was not prepared it was an unsuccessful attempt. The large seed hit him on his knee and he staggered forward, losing his balance a bit but when he looked up the two creatures had escaped. His senses are now sharpened and he looked around cautiously, leaning on the thin branch for support, he carefully stood back up. Making sure that there were no more of those monsters around, he turned and staggered towards the city. 


	2. Chapter 2

I DO not own the characters from FF or KH  
Chapter 2, The city that never sleeps  
  
The silver gates opened automatically as he got closer to it, to his surprise the sky was dark and the stars were twinkling in the sky. Feeling that something was a bit strange he looked back towards the forest, the sky was still blue! His gaze soon traveled right up above his head to his surprise the sky was both dark and bright blue! Riku shook his head and walked into the city, feeling that there was no need to puzzle over that matter anymore. As soon as he entered the town he noticed that it was a very crowded one. People were bustling here and there and loud yells can be heard. Feeling strangely foreign he explored around, his curiousity overcoming his tiredness. After browsing around for a while he found that everything there was immensely interesting. From the mysterious tower in the West side of town or the Auction house, even the card stadium, everything seemed to quite satisfy his thirst for knowledge about the other worlds. His curiosity about other worlds was satisfied but he felt lonely without his two best friends. Questions begin to swirl in his mind as he tried to look for an inn for the night...but well.... it's always night there anyway. After half an hour of wandering about he finally found an inn to rest in, he pushed the wooden door open.  
"Err...Excuse me?" He went up to a man near a table. The man stared hard at him through his glasses.  
"Well then...what do you want?" he asked roughly.  
"I was just wondering if you have a vacant room for me tonight." Riku explained. The man flipped a few pages in his red book and ran his index finger down the left margin.  
"Ah...yes. I have a vacant room for you 100 gil please." He told Riku.   
"W-wait a second!" Riku said hastily. The man stopped dead and glared at him, which made Riku feel quite scared, "Sorry...I don't get it...g-gil? What are they?" He rushed over his words. The man gave a huge sigh and took his glasses off his nose.  
"Look here sonny, now don't you go pretending you don't know what Gils are. I've got enough of this! Last week a girl tried the same trick but it won't work. Go away if you don't have any Gils." He told him off.  
" B-but I'm honest! This is no trick!" Stammered Riku helplessly but the man went back to reading his newspaper, ignoring him completely. Riku went back out with a forlorn expression on his face, his thoughts turned to Kairi...the man said that a girl didn't know what gils were last time...it might be Kairi! It was late at night and the streets were completely deserted. He walked up and down the steps to find a small area where no one ever goes to and rested there for a while. His turquoise eyes stared into the jeweled sky with loneliness, wishing he had never been separated from his island but he can't go back now.   
"What is this place anyway?" He asked out loud, too desperate, confused and fed up to do anything else.  
"The city of Treno...or the city that never sleeps by some. A place where night never ends." A soft, gentle voice replied. Riku tensed up and turned to see who the owner of the voice was. A girl stood there staring blankly at the inky sky. Her dark brown, almost black hair blown wildly by the night wind. Her tea-coloured eyes were distant and deep and she was dressed in a blue-white outfit.   
" Excuse me...who are you?" Riku curiously inquired. The girl twirled around and beamed at him quite unexpectedly.  
" Acturus...Acturus Jeumi Azura." She almost sang as she came up to Riku, " Why are you out here at this time of the day?" she demanded. Riku looked down again.  
" Because I...you wouldn't believe it." He shook his head, " I didn't know what Gils are."   
" You came from another world?" Acturus offered the explanation. Riku's bright eyes widened in surprise once more. He looked at her with astonished expressions.   
" How did you know?" he questioned. Acturus's eyes danced and she gave a merry laugh. She took Riku's arm and pulled him up.  
" I was like that last week. Arrived here with no clue on what was going on. C'mon I know a kind old gentleman who let me live in his house, perhaps he'll let you too." She smiled warmly. Riku followed her to the mysterious tower he saw earlier. 


	3. Chapter 3

I DO not own the characters from FF or KH  
Chapter3, The Time Clavis  
  
" Dr. Tot! I've got company!" She shouted up the stairs. Riku analyzed the room. It was a messy one with books and scrolls all over the place. He could hear a muffled 'Coming!' from the top of the stairs at the corner of the room. Tables and bookshelves were arranged sensibly around the room. A short person scurried down the stairs.  
" Oh my! We're having lots of guests these days aren't we? Now why are you here?" the doctor asked.  
"I uh..." Riku started  
" He didn't have any Gils because he just arrived from another world! Just like me." The girl interrupted cheerfully. Riku just gave an amused sigh. Acturus is a very positive and cheerful girl from what he had observed.   
" Don't you worry, you can sleep here in the meantime. But if you don't mind, would you please tell me more about the world you came from?" Dr. Tot fixed his glasses, which kept on sliding off his nose, Acturus came in with a platter of warm food for Riku, she placed it on the table and Riku started to gobble it up. Dr. Tot ignored the food and continued " I have been studying about other worlds for quite some time now and I want to hear more of the one you came from." Riku was rather taken aback at this and he choked on his food.  
" You mean there are more worlds out there?" He stuttered, his curiosity grew back.   
" Why, yes of course!" Dr.Tot frowned, " Didn't you know that?" Riku just shrugged.  
" Well I didn't think there would be more than 5 or 6 worlds." He admitted.  
"Good gracious child! Why there are thousands of them! Millions in fact! Worlds we have never seen before and some, we do not hope to see." Dr. Tot said darkly. That only made Riku more curious, "But alas we didn't get a chance to see other worlds until the heartless came, and it's really a pity for them to come." He continued.   
"The heartless?" Riku edged a bit closer to hear well.  
" Now don't tell me you don't know who they are." Dr.Tot sighed. Riku just gave an apologetic smile.   
" The heartless are fiends that tear the walls that held the worlds separate." Acturus unexpectedly chimed in.  
" Is it not a good thing then?" Riku asked.  
" They tear up the walls and destroys the worlds..." Acturus's expression changed into a depressed one, " they've certainly destroyed mine..." she whispered.  
" Oh, sorry..." Riku apologized, " I didn't know that...Wait! What about MY Island? Is it destroyed then?" He panicked and poured out the whole story whilst the other two listened intensively.   
" I'm afraid it's gone..." Dr. Tot sympathecially patted Riku on the shoulder.   
" This is no laughing matter! What about my friends?" Riku raged.   
" They are still alive." Acturus whispered. Dr.Tot and Riku stared at her. Her eyes were a different colour...a silver colour but it soon regained its original colour, " I can feel the presence of these friends of yours, two wondering souls, searching for each other." She explained. Riku opened his mouth to protest but Dr.Tot held him back.  
" You'd better trust her. Acturus, by far, is the most accurate prophet I have ever met, if she said that your friends are still alive, they are." Dr. Tot peered through the top of his glasses warningly. Riku sighed 'she's never even met Kairi and Sora!' he thought.  
" Is there any way then, to recover my Island?" He asked.  
" Destroy the heartless." Dr.Tot replied promptly, " That is the only way."   
" Destroy them? How? Is it even possible?" Riku asked once more.  
" That depends on the Keyblade Master. The keyblade can fall into the hands of evil if their hearts are stronger. They chose their own master by the strength of their heart." Once again Dr. Tot provides the answer.   
" Keyblade...it chooses it's own master by the strength of their hearts." Riku murmured to himself. Acturus held out her hand and a brilliant light lit the room, it soon vanished and transformed into a large key on her hand. It was made out of clear crystal with a breath-taking design, set with precious stones and the blades looked immensely sharp, but it had a comforting atmosphere around it.  
" The keyblade looks like this." She clarified. Riku stared at her in surprise.   
" Then you are the Keyblade Mistress!" He gasped.  
" No..." She shook her head, " This is a special keyblade. The only one of it's kind, called the Time Clavis, the time-key that only the healer can wield. This keyblade can't fall into another person's hand after it has chosen its master. This might not even be a keyblade if the Keyblade I mean falls into dark powers, if so this is the exact opposite of the keyblade." It was a long speech.  
" W-wait a second! Let me get this straight. What do you mean? A keyblade but not a Keyblade?" Riku's head was beginning to ache.  
" What she's trying to say is that if the keyblade falls into evil people, this Clavis, as we call it as to not confuse people, is the opposite. There are two keyblade known to us. One is in the hands of King Mickey but the other one is unknown. The Clavis is a type of keyblade that's one of a kind. The keyblade might be used for evil purposes, the Clavis is used to heal and protect." Dr. Tot sounded as if he was reading from a book.  
" So what exactly is the Clavis used for?" Riku asked again, not quite gripping the idea.  
" When the world is in the brink of destruction the Clavis will be put into use. The Clavis might heal and mend everything that the evil keyblade destroyed, it might be used to regain worlds, but if the wielder of the keyblade is a good person this Clavis might not even be put into use." Acturus lifted her hands again and it disappeared.  
" So the time Clavis is just something prepared just in case the world ever reach the brink of destruction?" Riku wanted to make sure he got the right information.  
" Yes, but don't depend on it to save the world, it might not heal certain things. It had never been put into use before so we don't know it's exact power." Dr. Tot fixed his glasses once more. Riku nodded as he tried to cram every bit of information into his brain but being a naturally curious person he couldn't resist asking more questions.  
" But why is it called the Time key?" He inquired.  
" Because it might turn back time." Acturus responded, " This Clavis might just save everything and turn them back to normal when the world is almost destroyed, therefore it might turn back time. Its mysterious powers are unknown to us." Riku shook his head for the tenth time and flopped down on a wooden chair.  
" Give Me a break!" He sighed. Dr. Tot and Acturus just grinned to themselves.  
" Well, it's getting late, perhaps we should all go to sleep." Acturus suggested as she neatened up the books on the table nearest to her. Riku looked up.  
" How do you know if it's late or dawn? The sky is always dark." Riku asked.  
" Tee hee, perhaps if you don't ask that many questions, your head wouldn't hurt that much, trying to absorb every single piece of information we give you." Acturus laughed as she took the tray of food to a sink at the corner of the room.  
" I remember saying 'The sky is endlessly blue, distant and deep, but this sky may not be the only sky...' I guess I was right." Riku gave small smile.   
" Anyway, your room is upstairs, third from the right. No! Not the large staircase! That leads to the Gargant Roo." Dr. Tot informed him.   
" Thanks, I don't know how to repay you." Riku turned to say as he walked up the winding stairs.  
" No problem there." Dr. Tot assured kindly.   
" Anyway! Goodnight everyone!" Acturus returned her cheerful smile, which had disappeared during the long conversation. The other two just shook their heads at how she can be cheerful without any reasons and turned to their own rooms. 


End file.
